Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 05:07:05 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: [Hair Loss] drug side effect?

J Dermatol 2002 Oct;29(10):665-9 Related Articles, Links

Depression circumstantially related to the administration of finasteride for
androgenetic alopecia.

Altomare G, Capella GL.

Department of Dermatology, Ospedale Maggiore IRCCS, University of Milan, Italy.

In this paper we report 19 patients (14 males, 5 females; mean age 28.16 years +/- 7.68 SD) out of a series of 23 (17 males, 5 females) who developed a mood disturbance (moderate to severe depression) during treatment with finasteride, 1 mg/day orally, for androgenetic alopecia (Hamilton subtypes III-V; Ludwig subtypes I-II). Depression, which significatively impaired sociofamilial relations, sleep and eating behaviour, was associated to marked anxiety in some cases, developed after 9-19 weeks of treatment with finasteride, and promptly resolved after suspension of the drug. Two patients accepted reintroduction of the drug, and depression relapsed within 2 weeks. Depression as an adverse effect of finasteride has been reported only once. Further studies are needed to confirm our circumstantial observations, which are based on a retrospective series of patients.